<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Morgan-Stanley-says-China-is-‘overinvested-but-Indias-the-opposite-820x462.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427230" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Morgan-Stanley-says-China-is-‘overinvested-but-Indias-the-opposite-820x462.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Morgan-Stanley-says-China-is-‘overinvested-but-Indias-the-opposite-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Morgan-Stanley-says-China-is-‘overinvested-but-Indias-the-opposite-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Morgan-Stanley-says-China-is-‘overinvested-but-Indias-the-opposite-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Morgan-Stanley-says-China-is-‘overinvested-but-Indias-the-opposite.jpg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Central television transmission tower among urban buildings in Beijing, China, June 12, 2023. CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



China is overinvested as its economy continues to get buffeted — but India has room for investment opportunities, said Morgan Stanley.



“China is overinvested. It’s overleveraged and it’s oversupplied. And then it has this geopolitical cloud over it,” said Jitania Kandhari, Morgan Stanley’s deputy CIO for solutions &amp; multi-asset and managing director.



This is in contrast to India, which Kandhari says is underinvested.



“It’s underinvested because investment to GDP was down, and now investment and manufacturing are hopefully picking up with the China-plus-one diversion of trade that is happening there,” Kandhari told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”



Recently companies have pursued a “China-plus-one” strategy as they diversify their supply chains in a bid for resilience.



<figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote>India story definitely feels like it has legs.<cite>Jitania Kandhari DEPUTY CIO AT MORGAN STANLEY</cite></blockquote></figure>



Kandhari added that India is undersupplied in terms of homes and property, whereas “China has so many excesses.”



China’s real estate sector has been mired in debt and plagued by weak sales. New home sales for the top 100 developers sunk by about a third in June and July from a year ago, after double-digit growth earlier in the year, according to S&amp;P Global Ratings.



“India’s beginning a new cycle on the real estate side — made in India, work from India — with the global centers setting up there,” she elaborated.



“So India story definitely feels like it has legs.”



That being said, Kandhari feels that some pockets of China are still investable, hinging on the improvement of the country’s economic growth.



Kandhari said a key factor that investors need to take into account is that the risk premium in both public and private Chinese assets have gone up given geopolitical issues, as well as the country’s nominal growth which has “collapsed.”



China has been battered by a slew of disappointing economic figures, with the latest&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/15/china-economy-july-industrial-output-fixed-asset-retail-data.html">economic data broadly missing expectations</a>.



“You really need the nominal side of the economy to pick up, and that will be only in areas where there is pricing power, or areas where you would see growth,” Kandhari said, citing examples in green technology and semiconductors.



But these will only be in small pockets, she reaffirmed. Additionally, capitulation in China has only happened at the sentiment level, but not at the flows level where it’s looking “like a screaming buy,” she surmised. Capitulation generally means a point at which investors sell their assets out of fear.



“So I think it will take a while for even any upside, and [for] some of the select pockets that [will] look encouraging to us.”

Morgan-Stanley-says-China-is-‘overinvested-but-Indias-the-opposite

Morgan Stanley says China is ‘overinvested,’ but India’s the opposite

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CJNZZ7G46FJL5NF6CJHNTYKANU-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427222" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CJNZZ7G46FJL5NF6CJHNTYKANU-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CJNZZ7G46FJL5NF6CJHNTYKANU-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CJNZZ7G46FJL5NF6CJHNTYKANU-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CJNZZ7G46FJL5NF6CJHNTYKANU-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CJNZZ7G46FJL5NF6CJHNTYKANU-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CJNZZ7G46FJL5NF6CJHNTYKANU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Souloukna Mourga, 50, who has been a farmer for more than 35 years and lost two hectares of cotton and one of millet due to flooding, plods through his submerged red millet field in Dana, Cameroon October 25, 2022. REUTERS/Desire Danga Essigue/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;An initiative to boost Africa&#8217;s carbon credit production 19-fold by 2030 drew hundreds of millions of dollars of pledges on Monday as Kenyan President William Ruto opened the continent&#8217;s first climate summit.



In one of the most anticipated deals, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed to buying $450 million of carbon credits from the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI).



The ACMI was launched at Egypt&#8217;s COP27 summit last year. African leaders are pushing market-based financing instruments such as carbon credits, which allow polluters to offset emissions through activities like planting trees or investing in renewable energy projects. 



Organisers of the three-day summit in Nairobi say they aim to showcase Africa as a destination for climate investment rather than a victim of floods, drought and famine.



African governments see carbon credits and other market-based financing instruments as critical to mobilize funding that has been slow to arrive from rich-world donors. Africa has received only about 12% of the money it needs to cope with climate impacts, according to a report last year by the non-profit Climate Policy Initiative.



&#8220;For a very long time we have looked at this as a problem. It is time we flipped and looked at it from the other side,&#8221; Ruto told delegates.



&#8220;We must see in green growth not just a climate imperative but also a fountain of multi-billion dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the world is primed to capitalise,&#8221; he said.



Several speakers at the summit, however,&nbsp;said they&nbsp;had seen little progress toward accelerating climate financing.



&#8220;There hasn&#8217;t been any success for an African country in attracting climate finance,&#8221; said Bogolo Kenewendo, a United Nations climate adviser and former trade minister in Botswana.



Many investors still saw the continent as too risky, Bogolo said.



Kevin Kariuki, a vice president at the African Development Bank, told Reuters the deals announced on Monday were &#8220;very welcome&#8221; but did not come close to filling the climate financing hole.



He said African states would push at the COP28 later this year for the expansion of special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund that could unlock $500 billion worth of climate finance, which could be leveraged up to five times.



Patricia Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth of 56 countries, said the pledged funding was more than symbolic, as it showed people understood the emergency, but that current climate finance flows to Africa were still &#8220;shockingly low&#8221;.



&#8220;The private sector really remains an untapped opportunity that now must be seized,&#8221; Scotland told Reuters. &#8220;If you look at what we&#8217;ve got on thermal energy, on solar, on wind, on hydro, this is a powerhouse just waiting to be unleashed.&#8221;



More than 20 presidents and heads of government are expected to attend the summit from Tuesday. They plan to issue a declaration outlining Africa&#8217;s position ahead of a U.N. climate conference later this month and the COP28, which the UAE will host.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-investments">INVESTMENTS</h2>



The oil-producing UAE has been positioning itself as a climate financing leader in Africa. Emirati company Blue Carbon has been in discussions with Liberia and Tanzania to set up carbon credit trading by overseeing conservation of their natural resources.



The $450 million commitment was announced by Hassan Ghazali, a UAE climate investment official.



Climate Asset Management &#8211; a joint venture of HSBC Asset Management and Pollination, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm &#8211; also announced a $200 million investment in projects that will produce ACMI credits.



Britain said UK-backed projects worth 49 million pounds ($62 million) would be announced over the course of the summit, and Germany announced a 60-million euro ($65 million) debt swap with Kenya to free up money for green projects.



Many African campaigners have opposed the summit&#8217;s approach to climate finance, and about 500 people marched in downtown Nairobi on Monday to protest.



They say carbon credits are a pretext for continued pollution by wealthier countries and corporations, who should instead pay their &#8220;climate debt&#8221; through direct compensation and debt relief.



Sultan Al Jaber, president of COP28, said carbon markets were an important tool to mobilise the trillions of dollars needed to confront climate change, but acknowledged that they face a &#8220;crisis of confidence&#8221;.



&#8220;A lack of a commonly-agreed standard is undermining their integrity and diminishing their value,&#8221; he said in a speech.



A working paper released by the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project found that sub-Saharan African countries face annual debt servicing costs that are nearly the same as their climate finance needs.



($1 = 0.7920 pounds)



($1 = 0.9265 euros)



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Simon Jessop; Additional reporting by Jefferson Kahinju; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Hereward Holland, Angus MacSwan and Susan Fenton)

FILE PHOTO: Catastrophic floods in West Africa threaten food security for years to come in Dana

Hundreds of millions pledged for African carbon credits at inaugural climate summit

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="576" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GBWIEXGFANI6VBWXEAZOCTZ7WQ-820x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-425831" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GBWIEXGFANI6VBWXEAZOCTZ7WQ-820x576.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GBWIEXGFANI6VBWXEAZOCTZ7WQ-300x211.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GBWIEXGFANI6VBWXEAZOCTZ7WQ-128x90.jpg 128w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GBWIEXGFANI6VBWXEAZOCTZ7WQ-768x540.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GBWIEXGFANI6VBWXEAZOCTZ7WQ-1536x1079.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GBWIEXGFANI6VBWXEAZOCTZ7WQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Nigeria&#8217;s President Bola Tinubu waves to a crowd as he takes the traditional ride on top of a ceremonial vehicle, after his swearing-in ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja//File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Sept 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;A Nigerian election tribunal will on Wednesday deliver its ruling to petitions challenging the result of a presidential vote that brought Bola Tinubu to power, the court registrar said on Monday.



The victory in February for Tinubu, of the All Progressives Congress, is disputed by his two main opponents. Atiku Abubakar of the People&#8217;s Democratic Party and Peter Obi who came second and third in the race, respectively, challenged Tinubu&#8217;s victory in court on the basis of fraud claims.



The tribunal, which started hearing in June, will give its ruling on Sept 6, the registrar said, adding that the judgment will be televised.



Every election result has been contested since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, and none has been overturned by the courts, with the exception of the 2015 poll in which Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to&nbsp;Muhammadu Buhari.



Most observers expect the tribunal to uphold Tinubu&#8217;s win.



Tinubu, 71, has since been sworn in as Nigeria&#8217;s president, despite the election challenge, and has been under pressure to quickly improve economic and security conditions. He will be in India attending the G20 summit when the ruling is delivered.



Tinubu, a long-standing member of the ruling party, won 37% of February&#8217;s vote, the lowest share since 1999.



The main opposition parties have described the outcome of the election as fraudulent after a new technology that the electoral commission had promised would make the process more transparent malfunctioned, eroding trust.



Voter turnout was also low, even by Nigerian standards. With total votes cast at just under 25 million, out of 87 million people with voter identity cards and eligible to vote, turnout was only 29%. The previous 2019 election saw a 35% turnout.



(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Mike Harrison)

FILE PHOTO: Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu waves to a crowd as he takes the traditional ride on top of a ceremonial vehicle after his swearing-in ceremony in Abuja

Nigerian tribunal to rule on presidential vote challenge on Wednesday

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HIA46EEL7ZJN3JVG6KDGWO25D4-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427215" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HIA46EEL7ZJN3JVG6KDGWO25D4-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HIA46EEL7ZJN3JVG6KDGWO25D4-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HIA46EEL7ZJN3JVG6KDGWO25D4-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HIA46EEL7ZJN3JVG6KDGWO25D4-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HIA46EEL7ZJN3JVG6KDGWO25D4-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HIA46EEL7ZJN3JVG6KDGWO25D4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A military vehicle passes by people celebrating after military officers announced they had taken power, after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term, in Port Gentil, Gabon August 30, 2023 in this still image obtained from social media video. Gaetan M-Antchouwet via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



LIBREVILLE, Sept 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The leader of a coup that ousted Gabon&#8217;s President Ali Bongo was sworn in&nbsp;as interim president&nbsp;and cheered by jubilant supporters on Monday in a televised&nbsp;ceremony&nbsp;designed to cast the military as liberators of an oppressed society.



In West and Central Africa&#8217;s eighth coup in three years, army officers led by General Brice Oligui Nguema seized power on Aug. 30, minutes after an announcement that Bongo had won an election they annulled and said was not credible.



Nguema&nbsp;was given a standing ovation by military officers and officials as he arrived for the ceremony, and again just after he was sworn in by a panel of constitutional court judges.



State TV showed images of a cheering crowd and armoured personnel carriers firing into the sea to mark the moment.



In a speech, Nguema proposed reforms including a new constitution to be adopted by referendum, new electoral and penal codes, and measures to prioritise local banks and companies for economic development. He also said political exiles would be welcomed back and political prisoners freed.



Repeatedly interrupted by cheers, he described the coup, which&nbsp;ended the Bongo family&#8217;s 56-year&nbsp;hold on power in the oil-producing country,&nbsp;as a moment of national liberation and a manifestation of God&#8217;s will.



&#8220;When the people are crushed by their leaders &#8230; it&#8217;s the army that gives them back their dignity,&#8221; he said. &#8220;People of Gabon, today the times of happiness that our ancestors dreamt of are finally coming.&#8221;



Several figures from Bongo&#8217;s government, including the vice president and prime minister, attended the ceremony.



Bongo himself remains under house arrest. He was elected in 2009, taking over from his late father who came to power in 1967. Opponents say the family did too little to share Gabon&#8217;s oil and mining wealth with the country&#8217;s 2.3 million people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pledge-to-return-power-to-civilians">PLEDGE TO RETURN POWER TO CIVILIANS</h2>



Nguema reiterated that his administration would organise free and fair elections, though he gave no timetable.



&#8220;After this transition &#8230; we intend to return power to civilians by organising new elections that will be free, transparent, credible and peaceful,&#8221; he said.



Previously, Nguema had said the junta would proceed &#8220;quickly but surely,&#8221; but cautioned that too much haste could lead to elections that lack credibility.



The coup had drawn&nbsp;cheering crowds onto the streets of the capital Libreville but condemnation from abroad.



Leaders of the Central African regional bloc ECCAS are due to meet in person on Monday to discuss their response. Last week they urged partners led by the United Nations and the African Union to support a rapid return to constitutional order.



Gabon&#8217;s main opposition group, Alternance 2023, which says it is the rightful winner of the Aug. 26 election, has called on the international community to encourage the junta to hand power back to civilians.



Members of Alternance 2023 met Nguema on Sunday for talks, a source in the alliance told Reuters, without sharing further details.



Gabon&#8217;s international bonds continued to claw back ground after their sharp tumble last Wednesday. The 2025 bond recorded the biggest gains, up 1.8 cents in the dollar according to Tradeweb data.



However, the bonds which are trading between 91.3 cents from 2024 maturities and 74 cents for issues coming due in 2031, are still down around 5 cents from their pre-coup levels. US362420AB78=TE, XS1245960684=TE, US362420AD35=TE, US362420AD35=TE



(Additional reporting by Nellie Peyton and Karin Strohecker; Writing by Alessandra Prentice and Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Peter Graff and Christina Fincher)

Military vehicle passes by people celebrating in Port Gentil

Gabon coup leader sworn in as interim president in scene of jubilation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="559" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LYNXMPEJ83054_L.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427205" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LYNXMPEJ83054_L.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LYNXMPEJ83054_L-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LYNXMPEJ83054_L-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LYNXMPEJ83054_L-768x537.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: People cross a flooded area in Muloza on the border with Mozambique after the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Freddy, around 100 km outside Blantyre, Malawi, March 18, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Kenyan President William Ruto kicked off Africa&#8217;s first climate summit on Monday by urging thousands of delegates in Nairobi to see the climate crisis as a unique opportunity for the continent to attract billions of dollars in investment.



Organisers say they anticipate hundreds of millions of dollars in deals to be announced at the three-day summit, during which they aim to showcase Africa as a destination for climate investment rather than a victim of floods, drought and famine.



African leaders are pushing market-based financing instruments such as carbon credits in a bid to mobilize funding that they say has been slow to arrive from rich-world donors.



&#8220;For a very long time we have looked at this as a problem. It is time we flipped and looked it from the other side,&#8221; Ruto told delegates.



&#8220;We must see in green growth not just a climate imperative but also a fountain of multi-billion dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the world is primed to capitalise,&#8221; he said.



Many African campaigners, however, have opposed the summit&#8217;s approach to climate finance, saying it advances Western priorities at the expense of the continent.



They say carbon credits, which allow polluters to offset emissions by funding green activities, are a pretext for wealthier countries and corporations to continue polluting.



&#8220;Africa needs funding from countries that have got rich off our suffering. They owe a climate debt,&#8221; said Mohamed Adow, the director of energy at the Power Shift Africa think tank.



About 500 people marched in dowtown Nairobi on Monday to protest the summit&#8217;s agenda and demand financial compensation for climate damage from rich countries.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-investments">INVESTMENTS</h2>



During Monday&#8217;s sessions, environment ministers, business executives and climate campaigners will discuss how to scale up climate finance and transform food systems.



More than 20 presidents and heads of government are expected to attend the summit from Tuesday. They plan to issue a declaration outlining Africa&#8217;s position ahead of a U.N. climate conference later this month and the COP28 U.N. summit in the United Arab Emirates from late November.



Companies and governments began&nbsp;announcing&nbsp;investments and financing commitments.



One of the top lenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rawbank, and global energy trader Vitol&nbsp;VITOLV.UL&nbsp;announced a $20 million investment in renewable energy, clean cooking and forest conservation in Congo.



Britain&#8217;s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said UK-backed projects worth 49 million pounds ($62&nbsp;million) would be announced over the course of the summit.



African countries are also hoping for debt relief from creditors to free up money to invest in renewable energy, conservation and climate adaptation.



A new working paper released by the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project found that sub-Saharan African countries face annual debt servicing costs that are nearly the same as their climate finance needs.



Even as they push for investments in renewable energy, many African governments also want to develop hydrocarbons resources, particularly natural gas, arguing they can accelerate the continent&#8217;s development while not contributing significantly to global carbon emissions.



Protesters at the Nairobi march voiced opposition to gas development, which they said would worsen climate change and was part of a &#8220;neo-colonial scramble&#8221; for Africa&#8217;s resources.



($1 = 0.7920 pounds)



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Additional reporting by Jefferson Kahinju; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

LYNXMPEJ83054_L

Kenya’s Ruto urges Africa to seize climate financing opportunities

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6JMJAWIW3VL33JISGXMANELY74-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426124" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6JMJAWIW3VL33JISGXMANELY74-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6JMJAWIW3VL33JISGXMANELY74-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6JMJAWIW3VL33JISGXMANELY74-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6JMJAWIW3VL33JISGXMANELY74-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6JMJAWIW3VL33JISGXMANELY74-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6JMJAWIW3VL33JISGXMANELY74-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria, arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. The aim of the two-day climate and finance summit was to set up concrete measures to help poor and developing countries whose predicaments have been worsened by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine better tackle poverty and climate change. Lewis Joly/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Sept 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria is considering applying to become a member of the G20 bloc of major economies after concluding consultations on the risks and benefits, the president&#8217;s spokesperson said on Sunday.



President Bola Tinubu will leave on Monday to attend the G20 summit in India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said.



South Africa is the only African member of the group of the world&#8217;s 20 most industrialised nations.



&#8220;While Nigeria&#8217;s membership of the G-20 is desirable, the government has embarked on wide-ranging consultations with a view to ascertaining the benefits and risks of membership,&#8221; Ngelale said in a statement.



Tinubu&#8217;s attendance was in part&nbsp;to&nbsp;further Nigeria&#8217;s membership objective, he said.



On Friday, Ngelale said Tinubu will attend the G20 summit to try to promote foreign investment in Nigeria and mobilize global capital to develop infrastructure.



Nigeria&#8217;s new government wants to encourage investments rather than rely on borrowing to create jobs as it tries to revive an economy struggling with record debt, a weak currency, double-digit inflation and skeletal power supplies.



Tinubu has embarked on the boldest reforms in decades, which have been welcomed by investors. However, they have brought additional hardship to Nigerians already dealing with a cost of living crisis.



Tinubu will attend the summit with some of his cabinet members including foreign affairs, finance and trade ministers.



(Reporting by Felix Onuah, Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Angus MacSwan)

Summit for a new global financing pact takes place in Paris

Nigeria mulls G20 bloc membership, president to attend summit in India

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AC6OZXPWMVLGNFLNRU2REQQDNU-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427185" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AC6OZXPWMVLGNFLNRU2REQQDNU-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AC6OZXPWMVLGNFLNRU2REQQDNU-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AC6OZXPWMVLGNFLNRU2REQQDNU-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AC6OZXPWMVLGNFLNRU2REQQDNU-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AC6OZXPWMVLGNFLNRU2REQQDNU-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AC6OZXPWMVLGNFLNRU2REQQDNU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Members of the Nigerian Labour Union, holding flags and placards, march during a protest against fuel price hikes and rising costs, in Abuja, Nigeria August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Abraham Achirga/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Sept 1 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigerian labour unions plan a warning strike on Tuesday and Wednesday next week ahead of an indefinite action in three weeks in protest at the cost of living, after the government scrapped a costly petrol subsidy, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) said on Friday.



The NLC, which represents millions of workers across most sectors of Africa&#8217;s largest economy, including parts of the oil industry, said next week&#8217;s action will &#8220;demonstrate our readiness&#8221; for the indefinite action due to start on Sept. 21.



Unions had been on&nbsp;strike&nbsp;a month ago over the cost of living but suspended their action following an offer of talks with the government, but those talks did not result in concessions sufficient to placate organised labour.



President Bola Tinubu, who has embarked on Nigeria&#8217;s boldest reforms in decades, has been under pressure from unions to offer relief to millions of households and small businesses after he scrapped the subsidy that had kept petrol prices cheap but cost the government $10 billion last year.



While the reforms have been seen positively by some investors, unions say they led to soaring costs at a time when Nigerians are already grappling with the highest inflation in almost two decades.



&#8220;The federal government has refused to engage and reach agreement with organized labour on the critical issues of the consequences of the unfortunate hike in the price of petrol which has unleashed massive suffering on Nigerian workers and masses,&#8221; Union leader Joe Ajaero said.



He said union members nationwide would embark on a &#8220;total and indefinite shutdown of the nation&#8221; later in the month, until steps are taken by the government to address the &#8220;excruciating mass suffering and impoverishment being experienced around the country&#8221;.



Nigeria&#8217;s presidency and labour ministry didn&#8217;t immediately respond to request for comments.



(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by David Holmes)

FILE PHOTO: Members of the Nigerian Labour Union protest against fuel price hikes and rising costs, in Abuja

Nigerian unions plan warning strike next week over cost of living

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/W7VMKOE6Q5NC3A5N4BRNISXQGM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427181" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/W7VMKOE6Q5NC3A5N4BRNISXQGM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/W7VMKOE6Q5NC3A5N4BRNISXQGM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/W7VMKOE6Q5NC3A5N4BRNISXQGM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/W7VMKOE6Q5NC3A5N4BRNISXQGM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/W7VMKOE6Q5NC3A5N4BRNISXQGM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/W7VMKOE6Q5NC3A5N4BRNISXQGM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: International Monetary Fund (IMF) First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath participates in a panel titled “How Should Central Banks Battle High Inflation?” at the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Sept 1 (Reuters) &#8211; Indebted nations that have faced lengthy negotiations with creditors need to have access to faster sovereign debt restructuring mechanisms, the International Monetary Fund&#8217;s First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on Friday.



Gopinath told a conference in Cape Town, South Africa, that she was more hopeful about debt restructuring after Zambia reached a deal with its official creditors, but added that more needed to be done.



&#8220;I &#8230; felt hopeless about this until two to three months ago,&#8221; she told the event, organised by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). &#8220;But after Zambia&#8217;s debt restructuring &#8230; I&#8217;m feeling more hopeful that there is actually a way we can have more faster and timely debt restructurings done.&#8221;



She said she was completely in agreement that the world&#8217;s financial architecture needed to change and that China&#8217;s slowing economic growth had implications for export earnings in South Africa. China is South Africa&#8217;s largest trading partner.



SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago told the conference that inflation expectations in the country remained elevated.



&#8220;The most recent figure (of inflation) is 4.7(%) and there is all sorts of excitement (that) we have conquered this monster that is inflation and &#8230; my message is the job is not done,&#8221; Kganyago said.



Moves in the rand exchange rate, uncertainty surrounding oil prices and the impact of domestic power cuts on economic activity all remained inflationary risks, he said. 



(Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Kopano Gumbi; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Mike Harrison)

2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund

IMF’s Gopinath says faster debt restructuring tools needed

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Z4DVFX4YZBISTIKKKGFNVAHVZY-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427174" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Z4DVFX4YZBISTIKKKGFNVAHVZY-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Z4DVFX4YZBISTIKKKGFNVAHVZY-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Z4DVFX4YZBISTIKKKGFNVAHVZY-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Z4DVFX4YZBISTIKKKGFNVAHVZY-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Z4DVFX4YZBISTIKKKGFNVAHVZY-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Z4DVFX4YZBISTIKKKGFNVAHVZY-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Trucks carrying industrial equipments wait because of the closure of the border after the coup in Gabon, in the border town of Kye-Ossi, Cameroon August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Desire Danga Essigue/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LIBREVILLE, Sept 1 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Gabon&#8217;s main opposition group, Alternance 2023, called on the international community on Friday to encourage the junta that overthrew President Ali Bongo to hand power back to civilians.



Military officers seized power in a coup on Wednesday minutes after an announcement that Bongo had secured a third term in an election. They placed him under house arrest and picked General Brice Oligui Nguema as transitional leader.



The junta has said little about its immediate plans after ending the Bongo family&#8217;s almost six decades in power, a move that drew cheering crowds onto the streets of Libreville.



Bongo had ruled since 2009, taking over from his father when he died after he had been president since 1967. Opponents say the family did little to share Gabon&#8217;s oil and mining wealth with its 2.3 million people, almost a third of whom live in poverty.



&#8220;We were happy that Ali Bongo was overthrown but &#8230; we hope that the international community will stand up in favour of the Republic and the democratic order in Gabon by asking the military to give back the power to the civilians,&#8221; Alexandra Pangha, spokesperson for Alternance 2023 leader Albert Ondo Ossa, told the BBC.



Alternance 2023 has said it wanted a full vote count from Tuesday&#8217;s election which it said would show Ondo Ossa had won. Gabon&#8217;s election commission said Bongo had been re-elected with 64% of the vote, while Ondo Ossa secured almost 31%.



Pangha said the opposition hoped to get an invitation from the junta to discuss the Central African country&#8217;s transition plan and return to the republican order but said it had not received anything yet.



Nguema, leader of the officers behind the coup, is expected to be sworn in as transitional president on Monday, the junta has said. He will also give his first presidential address.



&#8220;We think it&#8217;s absurd for the putschists to swear in on Monday,&#8221; Pangha said.



The African Union&#8217;s Peace and Security Council demanded on Thursday that the military refrain from any interference in the political process and called for fair and transparent elections.



France, Gabon&#8217;s former colonial ruler, and other Western powers have condemned the military takeover.



(Reporting by Alessandra Prentice and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Edmund Blair)

Gabon shutdown leaves truck drivers stranded at border crossing

Gabon opposition calls for pressure on junta to hand power to civilians

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="589" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GI47PAU5RVNZPAPZ6Y7AJEMXZM-820x589.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427166" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GI47PAU5RVNZPAPZ6Y7AJEMXZM-820x589.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GI47PAU5RVNZPAPZ6Y7AJEMXZM-300x215.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GI47PAU5RVNZPAPZ6Y7AJEMXZM-125x90.jpg 125w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GI47PAU5RVNZPAPZ6Y7AJEMXZM-768x552.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GI47PAU5RVNZPAPZ6Y7AJEMXZM-1536x1103.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GI47PAU5RVNZPAPZ6Y7AJEMXZM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Russia&#8217;s President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Burkina Faso&#8217;s interim President Ibrahim Traore during a meeting following the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 29, 2023. Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via REUTERS /File Photo</figcaption></figure>



OUAGADOUGOU, Aug 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;A Russian delegation held talks with Burkina Faso&#8217;s interim president Ibrahim Traore on Thursday at a meeting that included discussions on possible military cooperation, the Burkinabe presidency said in a statement.



It said the visit, led by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, was a follow-up to talks between Traore and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in July.



The junta-led West African country&#8217;s relations with Moscow have been in the spotlight since it booted out French troops in February, fuelling speculation it would deepen security ties with Russia like neighbouring Mali, where Russian Wagner mercenaries operate.



The meeting addressed &#8220;areas of cooperation (which) primarily concern the military domain, including the training of Burkinabe officer cadets and officers at all levels, including pilots in Russia,&#8221; the statement said.



It did not say if Russian military trainers would be sent to Burkina Faso.



The visit could be a further sign that Moscow is seeking to shore up its influence in Africa in the wake of the death of mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who through the Wagner Group built up a network of interests across several African countries and beyond.



(Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool)

FILE PHOTO: Russia’s President Putin and Burkina Faso’s interim President Traore meet in St Petersburg

Burkina Faso says leader discussed possible military cooperation with Russian delegation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="420" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_12023-08-31T112513Z_1_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_RTROPTP_3_UBER-CLIMATE-KENYA.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427160" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_12023-08-31T112513Z_1_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_RTROPTP_3_UBER-CLIMATE-KENYA.jpg 640w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_12023-08-31T112513Z_1_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_RTROPTP_3_UBER-CLIMATE-KENYA-300x197.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_12023-08-31T112513Z_1_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_RTROPTP_3_UBER-CLIMATE-KENYA-137x90.jpg 137w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Uber boda boda riders prepare to ride the first fleet of the company&#8217;s electric product during their launch in Nairobi, Kenya, August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Aug 31 (Reuters) &#8211; Ride-hailing firm Uber UBER.N on Thursday launched an electric motorbike service in Kenya, its first in Africa, as the company seeks to make its global platform emissions free by 2040.



The rollout in Kenya will be followed later this year in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and South&nbsp;Africa, said Kagiso Khaole, Uber&#8217;s general manager for sub-Saharan&nbsp;Africa.



Uber&#8217;s new green product in Kenya, dubbed Electric Boda in a nod to the Swahili term for motorbike taxis, will comprise 3,000 bikes within six months, or just under a fifth of its fleet.



Drivers will see a 30-35% drop in their operating costs, and users of the platform will pay 15-20% less than they do for a regular Uber motorbike trip, the company said.



&#8220;You will experience lower vibrations, less sound,&#8221; Khaole said.



In Kenya, which generates more than 90% of its power from renewable sources and has been positioning itself as a hub to lead&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s shift to green transport, Uber previously carried out small pilots for electric bikes with external partners.



The growth of the electric vehicles market in&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;has been slowed by a lack of adequate electric charging infrastructure and associated equipment.



Sensing an opportunity, local firms have been setting up battery-swapping stations in major cities like Nairobi to save drivers time.



Kenya&#8217;s President William Ruto said last month that he wanted to see the number of electric motorbikes on the road increase from the current 2,000 to more than 200,000 by the end of 2024.



Motorbike transport is a big employer in Kenya, absorbing millions of people who are unable to secure formal jobs.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Aaron Ross and Alex Richardson)

tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_12023-08-31T112513Z_1_LYNXMPEJ7U0ID_RTROPTP_3_UBER-CLIMATE-KENYA

Uber rolls out electric bike fleet in Kenya, its first in Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="521" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RH3KC54SWJMBFOMPWHYWNRFCQY-820x521.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427145" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RH3KC54SWJMBFOMPWHYWNRFCQY-820x521.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RH3KC54SWJMBFOMPWHYWNRFCQY-300x191.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RH3KC54SWJMBFOMPWHYWNRFCQY-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RH3KC54SWJMBFOMPWHYWNRFCQY-768x488.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RH3KC54SWJMBFOMPWHYWNRFCQY-1536x977.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RH3KC54SWJMBFOMPWHYWNRFCQY-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Farmers prepare to transport bags of rice following a poor harvest due to the effects of the worsening drought due to failed rain seasons, in Mwea, Kenya November 30, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Aug 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;How to finance environmental priorities and shift the focus from&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;as victim of floods and famine will be central to the debate at the continent&#8217;s first climate summit next week, while activists resist plans to expand carbon markets for funding.



African countries contribute only about 3% of global carbon emissions, according to U.N. figures, but are increasingly exposed to the impact of extreme weather linked to climate change, including the Horn of Africa&#8217;s worst drought in decades.



A report last year by the non-profit Climate Policy Initiative found Africa has received only 12% of the finance it needs to cope with climate impacts.



&#8220;We aim to start changing the conversation from&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;the victim of hunger, famine and floods,&#8221; said Kenyan Environment Minister Soipan Tuya ahead of the summit beginning on Monday in Nairobi.



&#8220;The new narrative &#8230; should be an&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;that is willing and ready to attract capital that is timely, equitable and at scale to lead the world in tackling climate change.&#8221;



The thousands of delegates are expected to debate solutions ahead of a U.N. climate summit next month in New York in September and the COP28 U.N. summit in the United Arab Emirates from the end of November.



The summit&#8217;s organisers also say they expect deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars to be concluded in Nairobi.



Market-based financing instruments such as carbon credits that allow polluters to offset emissions by funding activities including tree-planting and renewable energy production are high on the list of funding options.



Governments have also shown interest in debt-for-nature swaps. Gabon earlier this month completed Africa&#8217;s first such deal by buying back a nominal $500 million of its international debt and issuing an eco-friendly amortising bond of equal size.



The transaction is meant to yield savings that can be used to fund conservation.



But the summit&#8217;s approach to climate finance has drawn criticism from civic groups, with more than 500 of them accusing organisers in an open letter of advancing Western priorities at&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s expense.



&#8220;These approaches will embolden wealthy nations and large corporations to continue polluting the world, much to&nbsp;Africa’s detriment,&#8221; the groups said in the letter.



Amos Wemanya, a senior adviser at Power Shift&nbsp;Africa, one of the signatories, said financing should come from richer countries meeting the commitments they have previously made to poorer ones but so far have only met in part.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-attracting-investment">ATTRACTING INVESTMENT</h2>



Host Kenya, which says it accounts for a quarter of the carbon credits traded in Africa, hopes to be a model for Africa&#8217;s ambitions in the market and has introduced legislation to try to attract investment.



In June, it hosted an auction where companies from Saudi Arabia bought more than 2.2 million tonnes of carbon credits.



One of the projects generating those credits is Kenya-based BURN Manufacturing&#8217;s production of clean cooking stoves to replace heavily polluting wood and charcoal-based fires.



The income from the carbon credits allows BURN to sell its stoves to poor Kenyans at a subsidised rate of $12 per unit, instead of the production cost of $40-50, said Chris McKinney, BURN&#8217;s chief commercial officer.



The company has sold more than 3.6 million stoves.



&#8220;We have still barely scratched the surface. The scale of the problem is massive,&#8221; he said.



One of the highlights of next week&#8217;s summit, according to a published agenda, will be a deal involving the United Arab Emirates and the&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI).



The ACMI was launched at the COP27 summit in Egypt last year with the aim of boosting&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s carbon credit production from 16 million in 2020 to 300 million by 2030 and 1.5 billion by 2050.



Responding to criticism of carbon credits, Joseph Ng&#8217;ang&#8217;a, chief executive of the summit&#8217;s secretariat, said they were an important tool to fight climate change but only one piece of the puzzle.



African nations will also continue to demand more funding from rich-world governments and seek additional recognition for the Congo Basin, the world&#8217;s second largest tropical forest, as a major carbon sink, summit organisers said.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Additional reporting by Christophe Van Der Perre; Editing by Aaron Ross and Barbara Lewis)

FILE PHOTO: Farmers prepare to transport bags of rice following a poor harvest due to the effects of the worsening drought due to failed rain seasons, in Mwea

African climate summit seeks to shift focus to finance from floods, famine

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I2NUTJPSN5PB5MIGGB73QYVZGU-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427120" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I2NUTJPSN5PB5MIGGB73QYVZGU-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I2NUTJPSN5PB5MIGGB73QYVZGU-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I2NUTJPSN5PB5MIGGB73QYVZGU-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I2NUTJPSN5PB5MIGGB73QYVZGU-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I2NUTJPSN5PB5MIGGB73QYVZGU-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/I2NUTJPSN5PB5MIGGB73QYVZGU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Gaboneses nationals prepare to cast their vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Libreville, Gabon August 26, 2023 REUTERS/Gerauds Wilfried Obangome /file photo</figcaption></figure>



Aug 30 (Reuters) &#8211; A group of senior military officers in Gabon announced on national television on Wednesday they had taken power and election results were annulled, just minutes after President Ali Bongo was declared to have won a third term.



If successful the coup would represent the eighth since 2020 in West and Central&nbsp;Africa, a region that in the last decade had made strides to shed its reputation as a &#8220;coup belt&#8221;, only for persistent insecurity and corruption to open the door to military leaders.



Here is a list of some recent coups:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-niger">NIGER</h2>



In July 2023, members of Niger&#8217;s presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum inside his palace and appeared on national television saying they were seizing power to end the &#8220;deteriorating security situation and bad governance.&#8221;



Days later the junta declared the head of the presidential guard, Abdourahamane Tiani, the new head of state, raising concerns about the security of a region where Niger has been a key ally of Western powers seeking to contain insurgencies by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.



The main West&nbsp;African bloc ECOWAS has been trying to negotiate with the coup leaders but said it was ready to send troops into Niger to restore constitutional order if diplomatic efforts failed.



Niger has authorised Mali and Burkina Faso&#8217;s armed forces to intervene on its territory in case of an attack.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-burkina-faso">BURKINA FASO</h2>



In January 2022, Burkina Faso&#8217;s army ousted President Roch Kabore, blaming him for failing to contain violence by Islamist militants.



Coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba pledged to restore security, but attacks worsened, eroding morale in the armed forces that led to a second coup in September 2022 when current junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-guinea">GUINEA</h2>



In September 2021, special forces commander Colonel Mamady Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Conde. A year earlier, Conde had changed the constitution to circumvent limits that would have prevented him from standing for a third term, triggering widespread rioting.



Doumbouya became interim president and promised a transition to democratic elections within three years.



ECOWAS rejected the timeline and imposed sanctions on junta members and their relatives, including freezing their bank accounts.



The military regime later proposed to start the 24-month transition in January 2023, but opposition parties say it has done little to put in place institutions and a roadmap to return to constitutional rule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chad">CHAD</h2>



In April 2021, Chad&#8217;s army took power after President Idriss Deby was killed on the battlefield while visiting troops fighting rebels in the north.



Under Chadian law, the speaker of parliament should have become president. But a military council stepped in and dissolved parliament in the name of ensuring stability.



Deby&#8217;s son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president and tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to elections.



The unconstitutional transfer of power led to riots in the capital N&#8217;Djamena that were put down by the military.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mali">MALI</h2>



In August 2020, a group of Malian colonels led by Assimi Goita ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The coup followed anti-government protests over deteriorating security, contested legislative elections and allegations of corruption.



Under pressure from Mali&#8217;s West&nbsp;African neighbours, the junta agreed to cede power to a civilian-led interim government tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to democratic elections to be held in February 2022.



But the coup leaders clashed with the interim president, retired colonel Bah Ndaw, and engineered a second coup in May 2021. Goita, who had served as interim vice president, was elevated to the presidency.



ECOWAS lifted some of the sanctions on Mali after the military rulers proposed a two-year transition to democracy and published a new electoral law. The country is scheduled to hold a presidential election in February 2024 to return to constitutional rule.



Read more: Gabonese military officers announce they have seized power



(Compiled by Hereward Holland)

Gabon votes as president Bongo seeks to extend 56-year family dynasty

Recent coups in West and Central Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5U7FLIWEYBKNHMM3XPNK67U22I-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427112" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5U7FLIWEYBKNHMM3XPNK67U22I-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5U7FLIWEYBKNHMM3XPNK67U22I-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5U7FLIWEYBKNHMM3XPNK67U22I-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5U7FLIWEYBKNHMM3XPNK67U22I-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5U7FLIWEYBKNHMM3XPNK67U22I-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5U7FLIWEYBKNHMM3XPNK67U22I-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Un trader à la Bourse de New York (NYSE). /Photo prise le 26 juillet 2023/REUTERS/Brendan McDermid</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Aug 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Markets appear to have batted away next month&#8217;s Federal Reserve gathering as a paused &#8216;also ran&#8217; meeting in favor of second-guessing about a November rate hike &#8211; but next month may hold the key to finally unlocking the end of the tightening cycle.



Fed Chair Jerome Powell was almost brusque in his re-statement of the central bank&#8217;s anti-inflation commitment at the annual Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. Without a significant new policy twist, his doggedness about the job at hand finally seemed to hit home.



After an edgy few weeks of repricing &#8211; as the U.S. economy re-accelerated in July and forced a reassessment of the long-term sustainability of the new higher interest rate regime &#8211; traders seem to finally agree with what policymakers have been saying since June: there&#8217;s one more hike to come.



For the first time since the SVB bust and regional bank crisis in early March, futures markets moved briefly this week to show as much as a 60% chance on another policy rate rise to the 5.50-5.75% range by the November 1 Fed meeting.



While that&#8217;s an ever-moving feast &#8211; and the &#8216;data dependency&#8217; of the situation was illustrated by a quick recoil in that implied rate after Tuesday reports of ebbing consumer confidence and job vacancies &#8211; it shows markets far more in synch with Fed thinking on its peak &#8216;terminal rate&#8217;.



For all but six weeks of the entire year to date, the so-called &#8216;median dot&#8217; &#8211; taken from the range of Fed policymakers yearend rate projections each quarter &#8211; has indicated an end-2023 rate in excess of where Fed futures rates put them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-don-t-fight">DON&#8217;T FIGHT&#8230;</h2>



That thinking was of course bamboozled by the March banking upheaval &#8211; which suggested to many at the time that the lagged effects a year of Fed rate rises on credit were already hitting hard via bank stress. But even if credit creation has indeed slowed sharply, falling inflation, persistently tight labor markets and rising real wages have buoyed demand nonetheless.



So much so that the Atlanta Fed&#8217;s real time GDPNow estimate of real, inflation-adjusted U.S. economic growth in the current quarter had accelerated to some 5.9% as of last week &#8211; its highest since January last year and some 9% in nominal terms despite more than 500 basis points of Fed tightening in the interim.



Impressively, Fed officials never reduced the median year-end projection during all the market doubts of the spring &#8211; having only raised it half a point to 5.6% as the crisis unfolded in March. Tracking that rather than more-skittish policy rate futures would have proved a better guide to how subsequent months panned out and to the summer doldrums in bonds and stocks.



But because investors assume the Fed will want to see another couple of months of incoming economic reports before making a decision on whether it&#8217;s done already or not, futures now assume any additional move will come on November 1 and not the September 20 meeting &#8211; which appears to be sidelined in thinking as a &#8216;dead rubber&#8217; where the Fed will pause to lap up more data.



And yet the September meeting could still be the &#8216;big reveal&#8217; as it sees publication of the Fed&#8217;s updated &#8216;dot plot&#8217; that will likely show just where they then see the cycle crest.



Given the Fed&#8217;s own accuracy so far this year in parsing the pathway and its faith in the economic resilience through the spring, that forecast will pack a punch.



Standing pat confirms the coagulating picture &#8211; another hike in the median dot could pre-empt two more to close the year that hoves a 6% rate into view all of a sudden.



And given all this month&#8217;s bond market angst about &#8216;higher-for-longer&#8217; rates, the Fed&#8217;s existing median assumption of a 130bp drop in policy rate to 4.3% through 2024 may also be revised sharply to show a shallower decline &#8211; if any at all.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-accident-or-design">ACCIDENT OR DESIGN?</h2>



So has a seer-like Fed now got the market eating from its hand at last? Or is it just good at guessing itself and basically lucky on the real economy?



San Francisco Fed researchers Andrew Foerster and Zinnia Martinez last week made the case that disagreement among Fed policymakers &#8211; which had been falling after 2010 and was negligible during the pandemic &#8211; is on the rise again as views on the underlying strength of the economy and stickiness of inflation widen.



Developing an &#8216;index of disagreement&#8217; based on the dispersion of &#8216;dot plot&#8217; rate forecasts in the Fed&#8217;s quarterly updates, they show a wider array of views beyond the current year take &#8211; but clearly on the rise on one- and two-year horizons.



So less crystal-clear clarity and certainty that it appears.



As to whether the Fed is guiding everyone to safe and happy place, there continues to be sceptics about the &#8216;soft landing&#8217;.



&#8220;Business cycles are dynamic and avoiding recession this year does not, by itself, increase confidence that a long expansion is in the offing,&#8221; JPMorgan economists Bruce Kasman and Joseph Lupton told clients in a deep dive this week.



The JPM economists said there have been no historical precedents for sustained economic expansion following large and synchronised tightening across developed economies &#8211; although there have been three episodes since 1960 in which U.S. growth has been sustained for three or more years after a singular Fed hiking campaign of at least 2.5 percentage points.



For the U.S. to ape those past successes, they conclude, business hiring has to continue to hold in the face of slowing profits, the Fed has to be prepared to ease within six months of the last hike &#8211; which now seems unlikely &#8211; and a new supply-side growth impulse is likely needed as a tailwind.



No victory laps just yet, then.



The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

Un trader à la Bourse de New York

September sees Fed dot plot thicken

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Gabonese-military-officers-announce-they-have-seized-power-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427100" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Gabonese-military-officers-announce-they-have-seized-power-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Gabonese-military-officers-announce-they-have-seized-power-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Gabonese-military-officers-announce-they-have-seized-power-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Gabonese-military-officers-announce-they-have-seized-power-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Gabonese-military-officers-announce-they-have-seized-power-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Gabonese-military-officers-announce-they-have-seized-power-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Election officials carry ballot boxes as people wait for the opening of a polling office during the presidential election in Libreville, Gabon August 26, 2023 REUTERS/Gerauds Wilfried Obangome</figcaption></figure>



LIBREVILLE, Aug 30 (Reuters) &#8211; A group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on national television in the early hours of Wednesday and said they had taken power, minutes after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term.



Appearing on television channel Gabon 24, the officers said they represented all security and defence forces in the Central African nation. They said the election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice and state institutions dissolved.



Loud sounds of gunfire could be heard in the capital Libreville, a Reuters reporter said, after the television appearance.



There was no immediate comment from the government of the OPEC-member nation. There were no immediate reports on the whereabouts of Bongo, who was last seen in public when he cast his vote in the election on Saturday.



&#8220;In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,&#8221; the officers said in a statement.



As one officer read the joint statement, around a dozen others stood silently behind him in military fatigues and berets.



The servicemen introduced themselves as members of The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions. The state institutions they declared dissolved included the government, the senate, the national assembly, the constitutional court and the election body.



If successful, the coup would represent the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020. Coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger have undermined democratic progress in recent years.



Last month, the military snatched power in Niger, sending shockwaves across the Sahel and sucking in global powers with strategic interests at stake.



Tensions were running high in Gabon amid fears of unrest after Saturday&#8217;s presidential, parliamentary, and legislative vote, which saw Bongo seeking to extend his family&#8217;s 56-year grip on power while the opposition pushed for change in the oil and cocoa-rich but poverty-stricken nation.



A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts, and the authorities&#8217; decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll had raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process.



Gabon foiled an attempted military coup in January 2019 after soldiers briefly seized the state radio station and broadcast a message saying Bongo, who had suffered a stroke months earlier, was no longer fit for office.



The situation was restored hours later after two of the suspected coup plotters were killed and others arrested.



IN POWER SINCE 2009



The Gabonese Election Centre said earlier on Wednesday Bongo won the election with 64.27% of the vote and that his main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had come in second place with 30.77%.



Bongo, 64, who succeeded his father Omar as president in 2009, had contested against 18 challengers, six of whom backed Ondo Ossa in an effort to narrow the race.



The government has said the web blackout and curfew are necessary to prevent the spread of fake news and to protect public safety. Bongo&#8217;s disputed 2016 election win provoked violent protests that saw the parliament building torched.



His team have rejected allegations of fraud by Ondo Ossa and his opposition alliance after a vote marred by numerous polling stations opening several hours late.



The alliance Alternance 2023 also reported other alleged irregularities including that ballot slips for its candidates had not been deployed correctly in some areas. Reuters could not independently verify the claim.



The European Union was not invited to observe this election. EU monitors previously questioned the validity of Bongo&#8217;s narrow victory in the 2016 presidential vote.



On Monday, media watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) voiced concern about the internet block and Gabon&#8217;s temporary suspension of broadcasts by French international news outlets RFI, France 24, and TV5 Monde.



&#8220;RSF denounces a series of attacks on press freedom and information pluralism, facts likely to compromise (the) general election&#8217;s transparency,&#8221; it said in an online post.



The opposition has disputed both of Bongo&#8217;s previous electoral victories, citing fraud. He first came to power in a 2009 vote following the death of his father Omar Bongo before being re-elected in 2016.



(Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome and Alessandra Prentice; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Gabonese military officers announce they have seized power

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has paved the way for bitcoin exchange-traded funds.



On Tuesday, the court sided with Grayscale in a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission which had denied the company’s application to convert the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/GBTC/">Grayscale Bitcoin Trust</a>&nbsp;to an ETF. The decision could impact other companies that want to create bitcoin ETFs, like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BLK/">BlackRock</a>&nbsp;and Fidelity.



A spot bitcoin ETF would be traded through a traditional stock exchange, although the bitcoin would be held by a brokerage, and would allow investors to gain exposure to the world’s biggest cryptocurrency&nbsp;without having to own the coin themselves. Many crypto bulls believe that approval of a spot bitcoin ETF will lead to more mainstream institutional adoption.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC.CB=/">Bitcoin</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/ETH.CM=/">ether</a>, and other major cap crypto coins surged on the news, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/COIN/">Coinbase</a>, which is listed as the custodian partner in multiple spot bitcoin ETF applications, was up more than 14% on Tuesday.



“The Commission failed to adequately explain why it approved the listing of two bitcoin futures ETPs but not Grayscale’s proposed bitcoin ETP,” the court said, referring to exchange-traded products. “In the absence of a coherent explanation, this unlike regulatory treatment of like products is unlawful.”



Grayscale Investments, which manages the world’s biggest crypto fund,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/30/grayscale-sues-sec-after-rejected-bid-to-turn-bitcoin-fund-into-etf.html">initiated its lawsuit against the SEC in June</a>&nbsp;2022 after the agency rejected its application to turn its flagship bitcoin fund, better known by its ticker GBTC, into an ETF. The company decided to pursue the ETF, which would be backed by bitcoin rather than bitcoin derivatives, after the SEC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/18/first-bitcoin-futures-etf-to-make-its-debut-on-the-nyse-tuesday-proshares-says.html">approved ProShares’ futures-based bitcoin ETF in October 2021</a>.



The ruling faced multiple delays but the SEC ultimately rejected the application last summer, citing failure by Grayscale to answer questions related to concerns about market manipulation and investor protections.



“We are reviewing the court’s decision to determine next steps,” the SEC said in a statement.



A spokeswoman for Grayscale called Tuesday’s ruling “a monumental step forward for American investors, the Bitcoin ecosystem, and all those who have been advocating for Bitcoin exposure through the added protections of the ETF wrapper.”



U.S. court rules in favor of Grayscale over SEC, opening door for first spot Bitcoin ETF



“The Grayscale team and our legal advisors are actively reviewing the details outlined in the Court’s opinion and will be pursuing next steps with the SEC. We will share more information as soon as practicable,” continued the written statement.



GBTC, which has $16 billion in assets under management as of Tuesday, was the first crypto product investors could trade in their brokerage accounts to get exposure to bitcoin. It was launched in 2013, well before the approval of bitcoin ETFs in Canada or bitcoin futures ETFs in the U.S. Grayscale charges a 2% annual fee to investors, making it a cash cow for parent company Digital Currency Group, led by Barry Silbert.



“It virtually guarantees they will approve BlackRock and Fidelity,” said Dave Weisberger, CEO of CoinRoutes, a platform that provides algorithmic trading and consolidated market data products for digital assets across multiple exchanges and liquidity providers. “Grayscale may need to refile, but they will almost certainly be approved as well.”



Firms have been applying for spot bitcoin ETFs for more than two years, but so far, the SEC has denied more than 30 proposals since 2021 — a 100% rejection rate. But investor sentiment was buoyed in June when BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with some $9 trillion in assets under management, put in an application. The firm has had all but one of its previous 575 ETF applications accepted.&nbsp;



—&nbsp;CNBC’s Jordan Smith contributed to this report.

107047831-GrayscaleInvestments-OB-Photo-20220418-ACJ-016-PRESS-6

First bitcoin ETF could be coming soon as court rules in favor of Grayscale over SEC

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1177991243-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412161" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1177991243-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1177991243-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1177991243-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1177991243-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1177991243-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1177991243-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Neal Froneman, chief executive officer of Sibanye Gold Ltd., speaks during an interview in Johannesburg on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. Froneman discussed precious metals prices and the impact of the rand on earnings. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Aug 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Shares in Sibanye Stillwater&nbsp;SSWJ.J&nbsp;slumped more than 11% on Tuesday as its CEO confirmed the South African company is pressing ahead with a bid for Zambia&#8217;s Mopani Copper Mines after a 37% slump in first-half profit.



The Johannesburg-based precious metals producer is on the investor shortlist of potential buyers for the state-owned copper mines. The Zambian government had expected to have chosen the winning bidder by the end of July.



Sibanye may bring in a partner at Mopani and the outcome of the bidding process would be known in about three weeks, CEO Neal Froneman said on a conference call.



The Mopani assets require a significant amount of investment but that&#8217;s spread over a number of years, Froneman said.



&#8220;We prefer working with partners and prefer earning-in so don&#8217;t factor into your thinking a large capital outlay for Mopani,&#8221; he said.



The South African platinum mining giant is seeking to expand in metals that are key to the green revolution. It has already bought lithium and nickel assets in Europe and the U.S. while its domestic operations continue to be hit by rolling electricity blackouts and rising crime.



The process to select a new investor is competitive and Sibanye and one another company are the only bidders remaining in the process to acquire Mopani, Froneman said.



Sibanye&#8217;s Johannesburg-listed shares had slumped by more than 11% by 1351 GMT.



The miner&#8217;s push to acquire the copper assets in Zambia came despite its profit in the six months to June 30 declining 37% to 7.8 billion rand ($420.87 million) amid operational challenges at some gold and platinum mines and lower metal prices, it said on Tuesday.



Platinum and palladium output at its Stillwater operations in the U.S. that were previously hit by flooding dropped by 11%.



($1 = 18.5332 rand)



(Reporting by Felix Njini, Additional reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by David Goodman and Sharon Singleton)

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featured

Morgan Stanley says China is ‘overinvested,’ but India’s the opposite

Hundreds of millions pledged for African carbon credits at inaugural climate summit

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Gabon coup leader sworn in as interim president in scene of jubilation

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Nigerian unions plan warning strike next week over cost of living

IMF’s Gopinath says faster debt restructuring tools needed

Gabon opposition calls for pressure on junta to hand power to civilians

Burkina Faso says leader discussed possible military cooperation with Russian delegation

Uber rolls out electric bike fleet in Kenya, its first in Africa

African climate summit seeks to shift focus to finance from floods, famine

Recent coups in West and Central Africa

September sees Fed dot plot thicken

Gabonese military officers announce they have seized power

First bitcoin ETF could be coming soon as court rules in favor of Grayscale over SEC

Sibanye slumps as CEO pushes on with bid to buy Mopani Copper Mines

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